South Shore Camera Club Quincy

Our competitions are held at the Quincy Point Congregational Church, 444 Washington St., Quincy, MA where the South Shore Camera Club [SSCC] holds its meetings.

. From October through April of each year the SSCC sponsors a monthly photo competition for its members.

All images are judged by an independent judge during the month prior to the competition night meeting. On the Competition Night all of the qualifying images entered are shown and commentary is given on the images at the discretion of the judge.

All members are encouraged to enter ANY THREE of the FIVE categories each month, and compete for Image[s] of the Year award[s] presented at the annual SSCC banquet.

In addition to the fun of competing, the judges’ critiques provide a wonderful opportunity for both beginners and advanced photographers to improve their photographic techniques.

Eligibility

All members in good standing are eligible to enter. Members in good standing are those who have paid their dues in full prior to submitting photos for competition.

Competition Meeting Night

The Competition Meeting night is always the second Tuesday of each month, beginning in October and continuing through April. Entries must be handed in at the meeting held on the second Tuesday of the month PRECEEDING the competition month.

For example: Entries for the November competition must be handed in at the meeting on the second Tuesday in October. Exceptions can be made if arranged in advance and agree to by the Competition Chairpersons.

The competitions are divided into two sections, [1] Prints, and [2] Digital Projection. The two sections alternate months according to the schedule announced in September at the beginning of the club “year”.

The last month’s competition in April is the exception. Competitions are held on two consecutive Tuesdays, one for Digital Projection and one for Prints. The Assigned category for that month changes every year and will be announced at the beginning of the fall meetings.

Competition Classes

The Open categories in both prints and Digital Projection are divided into multiple level classes of experience: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced.

1. New members must choose the class in which they feel comfortable entering, and stay in that class for the remainder of the year, because points earned towards the Best of Year awards cannot be transferred between levels.

2. Beginning Class entrants may move up to Intermediate Class or Advanced Class, and Intermediate Class entrants to Advanced, by choice at the beginning of a new competition year.

3. Best of Year [highest cumulative points] winners in the Open Beginner and Intermediate categories must advance to the next higher Class level in both Digital & Print categories the following year.

4. Winning any Best Image of the Year has no effect on Class level changes.

5. Once competitors enter a higher level Class they cannot return to a lower level Class.

Categories

There are multiple categories that can be entered each month; five digital projection categories and five print categories.

BUT, ONLY THREE different images per member, ONE PER CATEGORY, can be entered in three of the five categories each month. The three categories selected need not be the same ones each month. For example; a member may enter ‘Open Color’, ‘Nature’, & ‘Creative’ one month and ‘Open B&W’, ‘Assigned’, and ‘Creative’ the next month.

The full definitions of each category are described at the end of these rules.

Print Categories

1. Nature – All levels combined.

2. Color Open – Beginner or Intermediate, or Advanced.

3. Black & White Open – All levels combined.

4. Assigned* - All levels combined.

5. Creative – All levels combined.

Digital Projection Categories

1. Nature – All levels combined.

2. Color Open - Beginner or Intermediate or Advanced.

3. Black & White Open – All levels combined.

4. Assigned* - All levels combined.

5. Creative – All levels combined.

*Assigned Categories: There are three Assigned Categories that change throughout the year.

1. Photojournalism [PJ] – October and November competitions

2. Portraits – December and January competitions

3. Close-up – February & March competitions

4. The April Competition is a Special Assigned Category that changes each year.

5. In any category that is not specifically labeled black and white or color, either black and white or color can be entered, and all are judged together.

Digital Images Entered in All Categories

Digital images may be entered in all categories, but the extent of the alteration and manipulation for images entered in all categories except Creative must be limited to that which could be reasonably duplicated in a traditional “wet” darkroom. Stitching two or more images together to create a wide angle effect is permissible, as is removing minor elements, AS LONG AS THEIR REMOVAL DOES NOT MATERIALY AFFECT THE MAIN COMPOSITION OR REALITY OF THE RECORDED IMAGE.

For example, images may be cropped, spotted, burned, dodged, contrast corrected, color enhanced [such as choosing different films would accomplish], sharpened, etc, and elements such as telephone wires, small rocks, birds in the sky may be eliminated, BUT ELEMENTS MAY NOT BE CLONED OR MOVED, OR ADDED FROM OTHER IMAGES.

Any type of manipulation or alteration is acceptable in the Creative Category.

Rules Affecting All Categories

1. All images must be the work of the entrant.

2. Multiple shots taken of the same scene [i.e. images taken at the same time, from the same position, with the same equipment] may not be entered in more than one category during any one monthly competition.

3. Images winning First, Second, Third place awards may not be re-entered in the same or any other category in subsequent competitions - ever.

4. An image not winning a place award may be re-entered in subsequent competitions.

5. A winning image that has been physically altered through digital or other manipulation such as using overlays, montages, etc., where the original content of the image has been changed, will be regarded as a new image and allowed in future competitions.

6. All entries must have titles unique to that entry, in order to facilitate record keeping. Different entries in the same category should not have the same name during any given competition year. Titles are especially important for entries in the Photojournalism Category, as the title is taken into consideration by the judge and can play an important role in the judging.

Rules Specific to Print Categories

1. Size: Prints must be no smaller than 5”X 7” and no larger than 16”X 20” [including the matting].

2. Mounting and Matting: Prints should be mounted on a stiff mounting material for display, such as cardboard or foamcore board. Matting [over-matting] is not required, but is recommended to help prevent damage to the prints. A mat is a sheet of cardboard placed over a mounted print creating a boarder or frame. Any mat must not exceed 16”X 20” maximum dimensions, which means that a mounted 16”X 20” print cannot have a surrounding mat. Unmounted, framed or glass mounted prints will not be accepted.

3. All prints must have the photographer’s name, title, and category entered noted on the back of the print mount. If the photographer’s name appears on the front of the mat or image, it must be covered prior to the judging or it will be disqualified.

4. Prints may be made by a commercial lab as long as the photographer took the original photograph.

5. Prints may be made from an original negative, be a direct color print reproduced from a slide, or be the result of digital imaging.

6. Black & White Prints may be toned (sepia, brown, blue, or gold) but may not be hand-colored or tinted,

7. The decision regarding the admissibility of any print in competition is at the sole discretion of the Competition Committee Chair.

8. Prints will not be accepted on the night of judging, with the exception of the Print of the Year competition in May

Print Entries Returned

All prints are returned on the night of the competition, at the end of the meeting. The club will hold prints not picked up during the competition evening, but will not be responsible for damage. They will be stored, unprotected, in the Club’s metal cabinet on the stage.

Category Definitions

Open

This category can be interpreted liberally as that area of photography that shows the viewer a scenic vista, cityscape, pets, reflections, travel, nature, or any other image demonstrating impact, color, good composition and a valid point of interest. Portraits, photojournalism, and nature images may also be entered in this category, at the photographer’s option, but will be judged as Open.

Nature

A Photograph depicting the wildlife of our planet, such as animals in the wild, birds in a natural environment, landscapes of natural beauty with no human impact included [such as fences, roads, structures, etc.], wild and cultivated plants, etc., are all in this category. Images of cultivated plants that show the obvious hand of man [manmade patterns, rows, etc], domesticated animals, scenes showing cultivated fields, fences, houses, telephone lines, mowed grass, etc., will be disqualified. However, images in which a manmade object is part of the creature’s natural habitat, such as a stork in a roof nest, a barn swallow in its nest in a barn, as well as tagged animals in the wild, are acceptable.

Not acceptable are images such as birds on a fence post, or manmade surfaces [decks, concrete, railings etc].

Creative

Creative image making is a challenge for the photographer. This is the category to use for those images that use unique and innovative approaches to photography. Montages, multiple exposures, or color manipulation would be examples of this category. Digitally created images may be entered as long as the member created all parts of the image and the manipulation is done by or directed by the member.

Assigned Categories

Photojournalism

A Photograph in which a single image tells a complete story in one image, so that a viewer can immediately get the answers to who, what, when, why and where. One interpretation of the category is that it shows humankind and its world. Titles must be included, as they are an integral part of the story telling.

Portrait

A photograph of another person, persons, or self-portrait that shows a viewer something of the character of that person. A good portrait is one in which the photographer was in control of the creation of the image. Animal pictures are not acceptable in the portrait classification, but they may be entered in the Open categories.

Close-up

A photograph in which the subject does not exceed 7” in either dimension [horizontal or vertical] - in real life. Image can be printed up to 16”X20” in size.

April Category

This category changes every year and will be announced at the beginning of the fall meetings

Images of the Year

The meeting on the second week of May is reserved for the Images of the Year Competition. All the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners in both Digital Projection and Print categories are eligible for entry in this competition. Special awards will be given to the winners of this event. This special competition is done with live judging, and commentary on individual images is at the discretion of the judges. All entries must be turned in to the Competition Committees no later than 7:15 PM ONLY on the night of the competition, and all entries must be marked with the photographer’s name, image title, and category originally entered. Digital Projection and Prints of the Year awards will be chosen by the judges for each category, as well as Best Overall Image of the Year. In the event that the original print image is lost, given away or damaged, a duplicate print may be entered, BUT IT MUST BE AN EXACT DUPLICATE OF THE ORIGINAL IN CROPIN, SIZE, ETC.

These special awards are given by the judges solely on their judgments upon viewing the images, and DO NOT effect the cumulative points awarded for the Annual Photographers of the Year described in the Judging and Scoring explanations on the web site.

Competition Judging and Scoring for 2010 – 2011 year

Judging and Scoring

All images are judged by an independent judge during the month prior to the competition night meeting. On the Competition Night all of the images entered are shown and commentary is given on the images at the discretion of the judge.

The judge gives a score from 1 to 30 for each image based on impact, color, composition, etc. The image with the most points is awarded 1st place, second highest - 2nd place, third highest - 3rdplace. At the meeting recognition will be given to first, second and third place and First Honorable Mention winners. Tied scores will result in multiple winners of that particular award. In the event there is only a single entry in a category on a competition night, it will be the Judge’s decision as to what place award it receives.

Any club member who is called upon to judge in the absence of the regular judge may not enter that month’s competition, but may enter his/her images at the next competition night. This is in addition to the regular makeup.

Cumulative Point System for the Annual Awards

Annual awards are given to the 1st, 2^nd, 3rd place, and Honorable Mention winners who have the highest cumulative points in each category. All awards are presented at the Club’s Annual Banquet in June. A running total of all monthly competition results will be kept to determine the yearly winners in each of the categories. So as to equalize the apportionment of points from one monthly competition to the next, points are based on each month’s PLACE AWARDS [1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, HMs], NOT the points each judge has assigned each image in a particular month.

Example: A judge from one month may give the first place winner 30 points, while a judge from another month may assign the first place winner only 25 points. These points count only for assigning that particular month’s awards and are not carried over for the Annual Winners Awards.

Rather, new points are awarded each winning entry from each month as follows:

Every entry, except Place Awards is automatically awarded 5 points just for entering.

Each First Place is awarded 30 points.

Each Second Place is awarded 25 points.

Each Third Place is awarded 20 points.

Each H.M is awarded 15 points.

In case of ties, duplicate points will be awarded.

Our club is a member club of the Photographic Society of America (PSA) and the New England Camera Club Council (NECCC).

Webmaster: Robert B. Gorrill, APSA, MNEC